This invention relates to garden tools and, more particularly, to a removable attachment for a garden rake.
Gardeners, whether professional or just average home owners, justifiably desire to minimize the number of tools and implements required to accomplish their tasks. One of the implements necessary for all gardeners is the usual garden rake. The rake has a reasonably long and durable handle. Desirably, it should be convertible into forms suitable for a variety of other endeavors besides the usual raking. One of the forms is that of a garden hoe.
If a garden hoe has a suitable shape, it can serve as a landscape or concrete rake. It would then be able to move much more material than the usual garden rake and at the same time, level, smooth and contour the shape of a project. If provided with an appropriate contour, the thus converted rake would be able to push material, break up clods of dirt, and push small rocks back into the soil, all of which would save time when preparing a lawn for seeding.
Convertible rakes have been known heretofore. Examples have been disclosed in Civita et al., U.S. Pat. No. 1,093,535; Wale, U.S. Pat. No. 2,637,261; Bayliss, U.S. Pat. No. 2,114,518; Browning, U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,743; Palumbo, U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,474; Markert, U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,769; and Rexroat, U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,760. None of these are currently available on the market. The reason is that each is expensive to build.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide an attachment for a garden rake that will enable the rake easily and quickly to be converted into a hoe-like implement for the purposes above enumerated.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such an attachment capable of being economically manufactured such that it can be offered to the average gardener at an attractive price.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a quick, efficient and economical method of making such an attachment.
The garden rake for which my attachment is well suited comprises the usual handle portion, a head bar and a plurality of teeth extending downwardly from the head bar. The teeth are generally curved such that they are convex on the sides opposed to the handle portion and concave on the side of the handle portion.
The attachment comprises a generally rectangular, transversely curved hoe-like blade. The blade comprises a segment of a length of pipe and, as such, has a concave face and a convex face. Because of this, the segment is adapted to be placed with its concave face adjacent the exterior surfaces of the garden rake teeth. The segment has a transverse circumferential dimension greater than the length of the rake teeth and a longitudinal dimension greater than the length of the rake head bar. The segment has a plurality of apertures spaced apart a desired distance along its length, generally two such apertures.
The attachment further comprises a plurality of washers corresponding to the number of apertures disposed in the blade. Each of the washers also comprises a segment of the pipe of which the blade is a segment. As such, each of the washers has a concave face and a convex face, but each is substantially smaller both in longitudinal and transverse dimension than the blade. Each of the washers is thus adapted to being placed with its convex face adjacent the interior surfaces of the garden rake teeth. And each of the washers has an aperture disposed generally centrally thereof.
The attachment further comprises a fastener for each of the washers. The fasteners are adapted to retain the teeth of the garden rake securely sandwiched between the washers and the blade. As such, each of the fasteners comprises a threaded bolt and a nut. The bolt is adapted to pass through the aperture in one of the washers and the respective aperture in the blade. In this way the fasteners can retain the blade securely in contact with the exterior surfaces of the garden rake teeth, yet permit the attachment to be easily disassembled after use.
Preferably, I have found that polyvinyl chloride plastic pipe is a preferred material from which the blade and the washers can be made. Specifically, pvc pipe having a nominal diameter of about twelve inches is most suitable for use. And the fasteners each preferably comprise a threaded bolt and a wing nut.
My method of making the combined garden rake and attachment comprises providing a garden rake having a handle portion, a head bar and a plurality of teeth extending downwardly from the head bar. The method further comprises cutting a piece of pipe of a desired diameter to a length equal to the desired length of a hoe-like blade that is to be attached to the garden rake. The method further comprises cutting the length of pipe longitudinally along a plurality of its diameters to obtain at least one first segment of pipe having a concave face and a convex face and a transverse circumferential dimension greater than the length of the teeth of the garden rake. The method further comprises providing a plurality of apertures in the one first segment of pipe. The apertures are spaced apart longitudinally a desired distance along the length of the one first segment. Preferably, two symmetrically placed apertures are provided, spaced about one foot apart along the length of the one first segment.
The method further comprises cutting a plurality of washer elements from the piece of pipe of the desired diameter. Each of the washer elements has a concave face and a convex face and is cut such that it has a transverse circumferential dimension substantially smaller than the transverse circumferential dimension of the one first segment of pipe. Each washer element is also cut such that its longitudinal dimension is about equal to its transverse circumferential dimension. The method further comprises providing an aperture disposed generally centrally in each of the washer elements.
The method further comprises placing the one first segment of pipe with its concave face adjacent the exterior surfaces of the garden rake teeth. Then one of the washer elements is placed with its convex face adjacent the interior surfaces of the garden rake teeth opposite each of the apertures in the one first segment of pipe. In this way the teeth are sandwiched between the blade and the washer elements.
Finally, the method comprises passing a threaded fastener through the apertures in each of the washer elements and the respective aperture in the blade. In this way the blade is secured to the rake teeth, yet is conveniently and easily removed. The attachment is facilitated because the washer elements are compatibly curved in the transverse circumferential direction with the hoe-like blade.
Preferably, the piece of pipe selected has a diameter of about twelve inches. The piece of pipe is cut such that the transverse circumferential dimension of the one first segment is about five inches. The washer elements are cut such that their transverse circumferential dimension is about two inches, and their longitudinal dimension is also about two inches.